5 Must-Follow Instragrammers for Insta-Spiration

22.12.2014

5 Must-Follow Instragrammers for Insta-Spiration

Instagram have just announced they have reached 300,000,000 users sharing 70,000,000 photos and videos a day. Another 20 million and that’s the same population as the USA which is amazing. I follow 274 of those accounts. That’s just under 0.0001% of the total amount. Some accounts I follow are family and friends, some are for news and interesting articles, some are for fun but the majority are to inspire me. The instagram community have coined the phrase insta-spiration, which I rather like, and that’s what this blog post is about.

Pablo Picasso said ‘good artists copy, great artists steal’. There’s lots of debate about this quote on the internet but I tend to agree with the thought that Picasso meant you should ‘be inspired by others work and take old work to a new place’. He wasn’t saying plagiarise others work, but take from it, celebrate it and evolve it. Everything is inspired by something else – there is no shame in that.

For example this is evident on the #Fantasy_Friday hashtag. See the photo below for an example. Every other week one person chooses a shot – then the collaborative members of the group all edit it in their own style. The raw material being the same, but the ideas and end product being very different. I think this is pretty much inspiration at work on Instagram and Picasso would have liked it. (Photo courtesy of @ericmueller. Edited from an original shot by @l_o_r_y)

Talking of collaborations I’ve done a few over the years that I’ve been on Instagram. It’s a great way to be inspired but also connect with other instagrammers and I would heartily recommend doing this. The two collaborations below were both photos I spotted on galleries I follow. Check out their galleries for the original shots.

As I said I follow numerous inspiring accounts and I have a very eclectic taste as you will see if you check out who I’m following. In no particular order I’ve chosen five to share with you in the hope they inspire you too. (It was tough to choose only five!)

Javi’s work astounds me. He posts photos in threes to create his fantastic triptychs. The example photo below is only a single shot from Javi – for the full effect click on his gallery page rather than individual images. Every series of three images is so cleverly devised and has such a powerful impact you won’t be disappointed. If you’re not following him do so immediately. (Photo courtesy of @daphunkt)

Domenic is an artist, illustrator, photographer and designer. His account is filled with joy and wit and makes me smile with every post. He is so creative and in my opinion his account is pure inspiration. You can see more of his genius at www.stopthinkmake.com. (Photo courtesy of @domfriday)

Ayanah’s got a knack. A truly talented knack of capturing perfect natural moments of her family’s life. She posts regularly, from sharing funny quotes her daughter says to beautiful architectural masterpieces to wonderful silhouettes. All shots are posted with an emotive caption and enhance the story of each picture. Inspiration by the bucketload here. (Photo courtesy of @ayanah)

If I could restart my instagram journey I would want to emulate a gallery like Connors. He dreams up such great ideas for photos, hashtags and captions that every shot is an inspiration. Exceptional stuff. (Photo courtesy of @connortd)

If you investigate the above accounts I hope you like them and, if the fancy takes you, even follow them. Anyway Santa will be with us very soon so all that’s left for me to say is Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Happy Instagramming.